The Invasion (Part 2 of the KaiSoo Fanfic Series)

Chapter 10

Jongin never once thought he'd be able to go so long without speaking to Kyungsoo. Truthfully, it had only been about 48 hours, but for him, it was the longest 48 hours he's ever lived through. 

He feels as though he's standing stationary in the center of a battlefield where his emotions fight for the utmost of his recognition. Part of him wants to be angry and stop at the surface of what he saw, Kyungsoo hugging that wasn't him. It wants to make him forget all about trying to make things work with him and feel foolish for ever thinking they could avoid breaking up.

Another part of him, however, wants him to see the situation from another angle, the angle of the unknown. He arrived at just the right moment to see Kyungsoo and Hyunsik enveloped in a hug, but what did he miss before that? There are many possibilities that could all feasibly serve as answers to that question. Hyunsik could have confessed and persuaded Kyungsoo that he liked him too, or he could have done the one thing Kyungsoo's repeated multiple times as the number one reason he continues to spend time with Hyunsik, he listened to him. 

Jongin knows the best option for him is to put aside his pride and find out the facts of what happened that day, but how can he do it when he's been making such an effort to avoid speaking his name for so long? Also, what if this is some sort of sign that was trying to tell him that it wouldn't work out with them? If he could get so upset over one incident he doesn't even fully know, who's going to stop him from thinking that this is the universe's way of saying that he and Kyungsoo were never meant to be. 

He doesn't know much about emotions aside from their definitions, but Jongin does know that they are things that are constantly morphing just to disappear from the heart completely. 

As always, he goes to Taemin for the extra opinion he needs for his final decision. "You want to know my honest opinion?" he says to Jongin, who just nods silently but affirmatively. Taemin swallows another part of his mid-day snack and sits upright in the chair, forcing his feet to land back on the floor. "This kind of goes against what I said before, but after seeing you like this, you must really love him, more than maybe even you know." He maintains eye contact with the younger male before pressing his back up against the chair and propping up his feet again. "And if I'm right in thinking that, you have to let him know how you've been feeling. Otherwise, he'll keep fighting and eventually feel that you don't care about him, and then he might actually go to someone else."

Yet again, Jongin finds Taemin's words registering as valid in both his mind and heart. They're the words he probably should have been able to discover on his own, but, as usual, couldn't without the attentive eyes of Taemin. 

Jongin rubs his face and groans into them as he does so. "I struck another cord, didn't I?" Taemin says with a faint grin on his face and Jongin chuckles, nodding in response. 

"Like always," he says and Taemin chortles, adjusting his sitting position ever so slightly. "I'll just have to talk to him. I don't know how much longer I can go feeling like this." Taemin doesn't really respond to that with anything but a look of focus and acknowledgment. "I don't know how you do it," Jongin adds a moment later, looking back at Taemin. "You always seem to know what I'm thinking and feeling and just how to solve my problems. Are you a wizard or something?"

Taemin laughs and says, "No, I guess I just know from experience because I've been where you are and I'd hate to see you make the same mistakes I did."

Jongin smiles at this. "Well, whatever you are," he says with a faint and barely noticeable shake of his head, "I'm really grateful for everything you've done for me. You've made me feel more at home here in these short months than I ever felt in the ten years I was stuck in that place. Thank you."